1:27pm:
"Can't see shit." Said Toji, the cigarette in his mouth having muffled his words a bit.
"Windows are all boarded up, we can't get a look from 'ere." He added. Toji took a long drag and blew it away, already dreading the work they were all going to have to put into clearing those Angels.
"You sure you looked through all of them?" Asked Shiro, not being able to see the fine details Toji was able to pick up with his scope.
"Yup, that's all of 'em." He said as he ashed his cigarette.
The company had reached the radio tower their higher-ups at HQ had ordered them to check on. Not sure if the housing below the tower had an observing sniper or not, the company played it safe, and had Toji eye out the windows just in case.
Eagle Company kept their distance from the radio tower, taking cover behind chunks of wall that had fallen off from the surrounding buildings. This area was a lot more bombarded than the previous settings they had patrolled through.
It was safe to say that the destruction of the surrounding buildings was all thanks to the Angels in the radio tower, probably from when they had to fend off any passing enemies.
Shiro looked up towards the sky, giving hand signals to seemingly nothing. Up there, however, were NERV's mini-drones watching their every move. Without the ability to speak to them, they had to improvise another form of communication.
Shiro gestured his signals, speaking directly to their commanding officers back at HQ.
NERV HQ, COMMAND CENTER:
"No... view... what... now?" Read Hyuga slowly, watching Shiro's hands to decipher his sign language.
"They have no visual, and we don't know just how strong their defenses are." Said Ritsuko.
The mini-drones were rather small, yet extremely useful. They were about the size of a watermelon, but since they flew up really high, the enemy was almost never able to spot them.
There were 3 of them, each of the 'Watcher' series, which was a brand of drones. They had no propellers, instead using a miniature version of the same flotation engines spinners used. The advanced cameras picked up images from impressive distances, and could scan for irregularities in the field.
Watchers 1, 2 and 3 each looked a separate direction. Watcher 1 circled the area in which the company lay waiting, while Watcher 2 kept its lenses on the horizon for any possible enemies further out in the distance.
Watcher 3 was usually just a spare in case 1 or 2 failed or were brought down. This time, 3 was being used to keep its lenses on the company to read their sign language. Misato continued to watch the screen.
"Watcher 3, turn vertically to 43'57." She ordered to one of the drones, all of them being voice commanded. The third drone turned its lenses away from Eagle Company and towards the radio tower.
The Major observed the situation, not seeing any way the troops could sneak their way into the place. For a building that wasn't all that big, the vagueness of the enemy within made planning their attack more difficult than expected.
"Watcher 3, enable heat scanners." She ordered. All screens displaying camera 3's point of view turned infrared, multiple red dots having been picked up on the scanner.
"They're definitely there, but the scanner can't pick up any heat signatures that are too deep underground. I'd say this is too much of a risk for Eagle, since we don't know exactly how many they're going up against." Suggested the blonde doctor.
"Well, what do we do now? I don't think we can afford to keep our troops out there without a direct means of communication." Misato stated.
"We can call in an airstrike... maybe have them lure the Angels out first so we can take out as many as we can."
Ritsuko raised an eyebrow.
"What difference does it make?" She inquired.
"Look at it this way; since we don't know how many of them are there, I figured they'd all gather up in preparation for an attack. If they manage to lure some out, we should send a jet over."
The doctor nodded.
"A good point. I say go for it." The Major lightly tapped Hyuga on the shoulder.
"Shoot them a letter; tell them they're not going in to fight them head-on, we're going to provide air support instead. They just need to lure the Angels outside... once they're out, we call in the airstrike."
"Yes ma'am." He replied, accessing Watcher 3's message screen.
Watcher 3 faced the concrete near Captain Shiro, far enough so that it wasn't a threat to anyone. A small hole opened up at the front, revealing a sort of gun barrel.
A muffled pop was heard as a dart was shot down to the company, kicking up tons of loose debris and concrete chunks. Once the dust settled, Shiro headed over to the dart.
He had to yank it, since it had dug pretty snugly into the pavement. When he finally managed to pull it out, he opened the little hatch and took the roll of paper that had been inside it.
He unrolled it, revealing the message;
EAGLE COMPANY STANDBY - AIRSTRIKE WILL BE ORDERED - FIND WAY TO LURE ENEMY OUT - RETREAT IMMEDIATELY ONCE ENEMY APPEARS - AIR SUPPORT SHOULD ARRIVE SHORTLY
"Lucky day... airstrike's being sent over." He said quietly to himself.
"Attention, Eagle Company! We have orders to lure the skinjobs out for the drop!" He said, looking around to see how they could bring their enemies out.
"Private Sakai, see if you can get a good angle to fire a round at one of the skyscrapers facing the tower." He ordered, knowing a loud bang like that of a grenade launcher round would be enough to put anyone in the field on high alert.
"Yes sir!" Said the private, standing up and running over to his position.
"Someone go with him, but stay behind!" Shiro also ordered. "I'll provide cover!" Said Asuka, almost yelling it out.
"Go ahead, Lieutenant." He said, sounding rather skeptical. He had been thinking about her disobedience last night at the bridge, and began keeping an eye on her behavior.
Asuka ran behind Sakai, who was already positioning himself in a nearly-demolished cafe. She was out of the tower's line of sight, and kept an eye on Sakai as he loaded a round into his launcher.
Shinji was waiting by his friends as usual. This time, they were no longer a trio. Though a bit awkward to Shinji's two friends, Rei began tagging along with the three, even if it was only to protect Shinji.
"Well... the 'Führer' sounds desperate as fuck." Stated Toji, having picked up on her need to show how skilled she is.
"You think she's still pissed about not commanding the company?" Asked Shinji.
"Whaddya think? She don't change 'er behavior anywhere or to anyone, save for Mr. Ponytail who she drools all over." Replied Toji, rolling his eyes at the memories of Unit-01 having to endure Asuka's parading for Kaji.
"She's got issues, man." Said Kensuke, more so as a joke.
"We all got issues, Kensuke. I mean fuck, we all go through this shit every few weeks! And still not everyone in Unit-01 is as shitty as the Lieu is." Toji sneered.
"God damn it, stay quiet you three!" Hikari ordered rather quietly, knowing that if she could yell at them at that moment, she probably would have. They all quieted down, rather annoyed when doing so.
When Sakai was finally ready, he looked over to Shiro to confirm he had the approval to fire. Shiro quickly reacted with a nod and a thumbs up, prompting Sakai to finally fire his round.
It took a few seconds for it to impact the skyscraper, but when it did the damage was pretty severe. The blast took out the windows that weren't even that close to the explosion itself anyway, and the already-weakened walls began to crumble down below.
Sakai quickly ran back to the company, not wanting to be spotted by the Angels. Asuka followed him shortly after. Shiro saw the Watcher drones immediately turn the other way, signalling to him that the whole company should get going before the jets could get there.
"Eagle Company, we're heading back! The strike's on the way!" He ordered, quickly standing up with the rest of the team. As the company continued their way back, Toji eyed the tower with his scope, just out of curiosity.
"Suzuhara!" Yelled a female voice behind him. Toji turned around, finding Hikari staring down at him with her hands on her hips
"Geez! What is it? I jus' wanna see if those skinjobs are actually there!" He whined.
"Stick around long enough and you'll draw us attention! C'mon!" She explained.
"Yer not the C.O. here though, are ya now?" He replied with a bit of attitude. Without warning, Hikari grabbed Toji by the cheek and forcefully pulled him up.
"Gaaah! Alright alright! I'll get goin', chriiist!" He exclaimed, resting his hand on the cheek Hikari had just let go of. With Toji now following the company again, the sound of an incoming jet rung in the distance. Kensuke grinned as he kept turning his head every few seconds to be able to catch sight of the jet coming inbound.
"You should probably watch where you're going." Said Shinji, waiting for the moment Kensuke would trip over a rock and fall face first into the dirty concrete.
"I won't fall, I just wanna catch sight of the beautiful flames those Zoomies conjure." He said, acting as if the jet was some god-like creature.
"Kensuke, ya somehow manage to get dorkier everyday." Said Toji, chuckling.
The sound of the jet cutting through the air only grew louder, turning everyone's head. As they watched the aircraft near its target, everyone prepared for just another fiery explosion.
But as the jet came in, something extremely shocking happened. Just as it was about to pass above the target, it deployed its bombs as it usually would. But just as the jet flew directly above the tower, it exploded.
The roar of the impact echoed in between the buildings, attacking the eardrums of anyone who was nearby. Almost everyone saw what happened, and there was no clear explanation for it.
"What the fuck?!" Yelled Shiro, perplexed as to what destroyed the aircraft. As the flames still hovered around the tower, strange orange lines rippled through what looked like an invisible wall surrounding the radio tower, as if it was some protective bubble.
Shiro looked up at the sky desperately, not sure if HQ had witnessed the accident like they did. Unsure of how much danger they were in, the captain decided it was best to retreat.
"Pull back! Pull back now!" He screamed at the company. They all started running back the way they came. None of them understood what they just saw, as it was truly unbelievable.
Their survival instincts having kicked in, none of them thought about it at the moment.
"Odyssey-16's signal has been lost!" Exclaimed Shigeru, referring to the jet's surname.
"What the hell happened?" Misato bewilderingly asked. No one at the command center had time to process what had just occurred.
HQ witnessed the accident through Watcher 3's lenses. Ritsuko thought she had seen the same ripples Eagle Company saw, and became extremely worried. If her eyes truly didn't deceive her, they were in big trouble.
"Maya, scan the area!" Ordered Ritsuko.
"Watcher 3, run a scan through the perimeter." Maya ordered. HQ's view of the area of the accident only served to answer nothing. At least, to all but one.
Ritsuko caught a glimpse of something surrounding the base right before it disappeared, something that deeply concerned her if her eyes didn't just deceive her.
"The scan is picking up a powerful energy, but something's not adding up..." Stated Maya, trying to figure out what it was that was giving her computer peculiar readings.
"What's not adding up?" Asked Ritsuko as she leaned in to observe Maya's screen.
"Watcher 2 picked up a very strong energy reading, but... the map of the energy's location... that's what doesn't make sense."
Maya typed a command to enlarge her screen so that everyone could get a better view. The landscape was colored blue, indicating that the energy was coming from the ground.
However, the air surrounding the radio tower was colored with a mix of orange and red, revealing a high amount of energy in the area. It looked like a bubble had been coincidentally shielding the tower.
"No, that's impossible..." Said Ritsuko, her jaw almost dropping as she came to realize what had just happened. Misato looked over at her, knowing her friend had just pieced something together.
"What is it?" Asked a concerned Misato.
"I... I..." She started, not entirely sure how to explain the situation to her peers. "I... I have to speak with the Commander." She said, turning around to leave the center.
"Ritsuko? Ritusko!" Yelled Misato as her friend rushed to the elevator.
"I'm sorry, Misato. I'll explain everything eventually. Trust me." She said, not giving her old colleague much attention.
Misato quietly sighed and was increasingly frustrated. 'For some reason I highly doubt you will.' She mused, arms crossed as she tapped her finger irritably above her elbow.
NERV HQ, GENDO'S OFFICE:
"An A.T. Field?" Asked Gendo behind his gloves.
"I've no doubt in my mind about it, sir. No projectile was shot from the radio tower, no troops were even stationed outside." Recalled the doctor.
"Is there any existing footage of it?" He asked.
"Yes sir, Watcher 3 caught the whole thing on video. The A.T. Field's octagonal ripples can be seen clearly if the footage is paused and examined."
Fuyutsuki frowned.
"How do the Angels have an A.T. Field out there? That's not possible. Only Adam holds that kind of power..." He said.
"That's right. How these Angels harvested that power is beyond me, but this cannot be downplayed. This is very bad news." Said Ritsuko. Gendo sat quietly for a moment, collecting his thoughts about the whole situation.
"Well thank you, Dr. Akagi. Have the company proceed up North, they'll have to deal with the lack of a signal for just a little while longer." Said Gendo as he got up from his chair.
"I have some business to attend to... to make our troops' lives just a little easier." He added, walking over to a cabinet and opening the drawer.
"Yes sir." She replied, heading back to the Command Center.
After the elevator door shut behind Ritsuko, Fuyutsuki looked at Gendo.
"It's been a little while since you last talked to them. Your last negotiation with them was quite tense, Commander."
"They brought on the tension, as they always do. And I have a feeling they will do it again, even if everything is going according to plan." Replied Gendo.
"They're growing impatient, Commander Ikari. Another request might just tip them over." Fuyutsuki argued.
"One must not be afraid to take risks, Sub-Commander." He responded rather confidently.
"Now, I must get going. If anyone requests to see me while I'm gone, just take a message." He said, clicking a button that was hidden away in the drawer he had opened.
"Yes sir." The older man said with a single nod. The wall behind the Commander's desk shifted, revealing a secret doorway. He entered and proceeded down the hallway, disappearing behind the hidden door as it closed.
The halls had a very modernist design to them. The lights shone directly above a sheet of glass with water in it, artificial waves being produced at the end of each sheet.
The end result was a beautiful refracting effect. As beautiful as it was, Gendo didn't give it any second of his attention. He had more pressing issues at that moment, knowing what he was about to request was risky.
He walked down a flight of stairs, and reached another door. He pulled a card key from the pocket inside his uniform jacket and swiped it at the card reader. Thick locks were heard shifting and turning themselves on the other side, allowing it to open.
The room inside was quite large, though most of it was pitch black. The platform he walked on was the only thing with lights on them, lighting the path to a single chair and desk.
After sitting himself down, he looked at the tabletop. It was a touch screen desk, and he turned it on with a click of a button located directly under said desk. Once powered up, the screen requested a password.
He typed it in, granting him access to the computer. He spent a few minutes setting up the VR Meet and turned the voice command.
"Connect me to SEELE HQ." He ordered.
The Commander was going to directly talk to the enemy, not for peace talks, but rather for a sort of damage control. Just as he had so many times before. Nobody else knew about this except for the Sub-Commander and Dr. Akagi.
The screen displayed a dialing screen, one that read 'COMMUNICATING TO SEELE HQ'. This usually took some time, so Gendo knew he could just wait for a little while.
Whenever one side requested meetings, the side on the receiving end of the call might have to take some time to stop what they are doing and to proceed to the VR Meeting room.
Gendo was already in his, awaiting the representatives of SEELE to agree to participate. After a short wait, the room was lit by red lights shining from the ceiling, reflecting off of the calm body of water underneath.
Also above the mirror-looking waters of the room, now stood 12 gargantuan monoliths, each inscribed with a neon 'SEELE' followed by their designated number and a 'SOUND ONLY' notification under it.
The Commander showed no reaction, keeping the same pose as if he was some statue.
"Commander Ikari... what is it that you seek?" Asked the monolith marked 01.
"Good evening, Chairman Keel. I plan to discuss important matters with you gentlemen." He replied calmly.
"You have some nerve to want to negotiate with us again, Ikari." Said 04, still holding his resentment for what the Commander had accomplished in previous meetings.
"Let's not lose our manners, people. You all know I call for these meetings when it's absolutely necessary, at least to one of us." He explained.
"Now, shall we discuss the A.T. Field at that radio tower in Matsuyama?"
There was a short silence in the room.
"Ah, yes. We received some reports of a jet crashing right into a field of ours not too long ago..." Said 01.
"I thought we agreed neither of us would make use of A.T. Fields." Gendo said sternly.
"Yes, we did indeed agree to that. We also agreed to have already carried out the Human Instrumentality Project... years ago, mind you. It's how this whole conflict even began." Stated 11.
"Quite the contrary, it began once you bombed our innocent civilians." He said, not really caring much about the casualties themselves. Gendo was talking about a horrific day in modern Japanese history; the Tokyo-3 Subway Bombings.
SEELE had sent 5 Angels posed as domestic terrorists to carry out bombings across different parts of Tokyo-3. Once the suspects were identified as Angels, Gendo knew it was SEELE who had perpetrated the attacks.
The attacks were not a warning, but rather an attempt to pressure the Commander to finally carry out the Human Instrumentality Project. Once he found them out, it only bought him the time he needed.
"Gentlemen, this is getting us nowhere. Though, Commander... you too have gone back on deals of ours. Only you managed to pull some strings to put us in a position where we couldn't do anything to stop you." Said 01, sounding very displeased.
"It is what had to be done. That being said, I will not tolerate your use of an A.T. Field. We already agreed on Matsuyama, that should be enough." He stated.
"Commander Ikari, this isn't something we can discuss. You have taken more than you have given, and we will not change our stance." The 1st monolith said.
"Well I shall propose another deal, then. My head scientist just got done developing a new kind of bomb, one that reaches levels of an atomic bomb, but is non-radioactive. I can send it over to your HQ, if you'd like. I know you don't have any fields stronger than the one at the radio tower."
There was yet another few seconds of silence. While SEELE's tech was very ahead of its time, NERV's was just slightly more advanced. Gendo knew their A.T. Fields wouldn't get much bigger, and they couldn't possibly protect SEELE HQ with one.
"Unless you're willing to cease all use of A.T. Fields immediately. Also consider returning our line of communications." He added. The Representatives were speechless.
"Well it would seem this is no negotiation, but rather a threat. Have at it, Ikari." Stated Keel, right before all the monoliths had disappeared. They hadn't given him a yes or a no, but Gendo was confident he would get what he wanted.
So confident, his lips formed a smirk.
2:08pm:
Shinji trekked along with the company, his mind overwhelmed with stress. Rei walked along side him, not knowing of the stress within Shinji. To her, looking out in the distance in a trance-like state was all too normal. It wasn't to Shinji, who was doing just that.
"Geez man, yer even startin' to look like each other!" Said Toji, creeped out by Shinji's thousand-yard stare.
"What? Oh, sorry. I'm just... thinking about things again." He replied. Rei kept an open ear, only now realizing he was in some sort of pain again.
"Ya shouldn't think too much, man. I know ya seen some fucked up shit recently 'n all, and feelin' it is alright. But we're out 'ere to wipe those fakes off this country. So stay sharp, Shin-man." Said Toji, out of genuine concern. Shinji sighed.
"Um, thanks I guess. But to be honest, I can keep focus just fine. It's more of an emotional toll I'm feeling... I mean, that bridge last night. And that jet not too long ago. The world just feels so... insane, almost unreal." He explained.
"Ha! We've all gotten too used to this shit, man. Not trynna downplay yer feelin's, but last night was probably the worst you'll see 'ere. Look, the first few times are always tough, bu-"
Toji was interrupted by the sound of static ringing in one of his ears. The rest of the company heard it too, and soon they heard distorted voices. All of them stopped walking, waiting to hear who it might've been. The voices cleared up shortly, and they were able to talk to HQ again.
"Hello? Hello, is that HQ?" Asked Shiro, not sure if this was some hacked transmission.
"This is NERV HQ, can you all read me?" Asked Misato, relieved to hear one of their voices again. Shiro looked over at the company, everyone nodding to him to confirm they could all indeed hear her.
"Yes ma'am, everyone's communicated. Major, did you see what happened back there? The jet, it-"
"Yes, we witnessed the explosion." Ritsuko cut him off.
"Whatever happened is unexplainable. But, we have our orders here at NERV, so listen closely-" She said as she leaned in close to the microphone for emphasis.
"-what you saw... didn't happen. We're currently investigating the situation, but this isn't to be shared with others. So what you saw, didn't happen." She finished, giving command back to Misato.
"Yes ma'am, not a word will be spoken." He said. "We will proceed up to Northern Matsuyama." He said before clicking his earpiece off.
"Alright, let's keep going Eagle Company!" The resumed their walking, hearing the sound of wind gusting through the buildings of the city.
"Ikari, I apologize for not being able to assist you." Rei said out of the blue. Shinji turned his head, unsure of what she was even talking about.
"What do you mean?" He asked quizzically.
"You appear to be distraught very often, and I apologize for not being able to help you." She explained.
"Oh, c'mon! Don't worry about that. You're only protecting me physically, my emotions are on me." He said, trying to play if off as to remove her sense of guilt.
"But if you are always sad, you may lose the will to fight. The will to live." She said.
"Um... yeah, I guess. But I'm dealing with these emotions on my own, it isn't something you'll be able to help with much. No one can. But I appreciate the concern, Ayanami. Thank you." He said with a warm smile on his face. Rei didn't look too convinced.
"Again, I must apologize for not being able to help." She said, looking down.
"Well... you have kinda helped, actually." He said, attempting to get her mind off of it.
"In what way?" Asked the blue haired girl. Shinji gulped, embarrassed by what he was about to say.
"U-Um... by just, b-being around..." He avoided eye contact as he said it, feeling his face turn slightly red. Not having looked over at her, he didn't catch her cheeks doing the exact same.
"I see..." She replied. An awkward silence followed, though both were feeling just a bit better at the moment. Behind them, Toji and Kensuke whispered teen boy talk.
"Christ, how hasn't 'e fucked 'er already?" He quietly asked to Kensuke. "I dunno, maybe virginity is his passion." He joked.
The two had a good laugh at that, only to be loudly scolded by Hikari.